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Wandtke, Terrence R. The Meaning of Superhero Comic Books. Jefferson, London: McFarland, 2012. Added by: joachim (8/7/12, 3:02 PM) |
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| Resource type: Book Language: en: English ID no. (ISBN etc.): 0786464917 BibTeX citation key: Wandtke2012 Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details  |
Categories: General Keywords: Narratology, Postmodernism, Superhero, USA Creators: Wandtke Publisher: McFarland (Jefferson, London) |
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For decades, scholars have been making the connection between the design of the superhero story and the mythology of the ancient folktale. Moving beyond simple comparisons and common explanations, this volume details how the workings of the superhero comics industry and the conventions of the medium have developed a culture like that of traditional epic storytelling. It chronicles the continuation of the oral/traditional culture of the early 20th century superhero industry in the endless variations on Superman and shows how Frederic Wertham’s anti-comic crusade in the mid-1950s helped make comics the most countercultural new medium of the 20th century. By revealing how contemporary superhero comics, like Geoff Johns’ Green Lantern and Warren Ellis’s The Authority, connect traditional aesthetics and postmodern theories, this work explains why the superhero comic book flourishes in the “new traditional” shape of our acutely self-conscious digital age. Table of Contents Acknowledgments (vi) Introduction: How Comic Books Speak to Me and What I’ve Heard About Superheroes (1) 1. Moving Beyond the Standard Arguments: The Superhero Revised (Again) (7) 2. The Emergence of Orality: When Industry Becomes Epic (28) 3. Orality and a New Medium: The History of the Man of Tomorrow (53) 4. Amplification Through Simplification: The Traditional Basis for Superhero Iconography (80) 5. The Persistence of Traditionality: When Industry Workers Become Artisans (105) 6. The Failed Attempt to Impose High Culture: Literacy in Crisis (133) 7. More Than Service to the Publishers: Artists Aware of Technology (and the Audience) (161) 8. Eternal, Self-Conscious Recurrence (or More Revision): The Aesthetes of New Traditionality (191) Conclusion: Everything Old Is New Again (and Again and …): An Open Invitation to an Open Ending (221) Chapter Notes (225) Works Cited (251) Index (259) Added by: joachim Last edited by: joachim |